Plant care
Every plant needs a little care
It might seem you’re doing everything right when your plants are growing well, blooming and giving you pleasure. Stunted growth and lack of blossoms indicate problems which need solving.
The correct positioning of your pond plants
Before you start to maintain your plants, make sure you plant them in the right place. Follow the small information tags in your plant pot which tell you which depth the plants need to be planted in and whether they need sun, part shade or shade. This is really basic information.
Give your plants a little boost to help them take root before you „immerse“ the pots in your pond. One or two substrate fertiliser balls ( JBL FloraPond ) in the plant pot work wonders. Just by looking at the growth of the plants later will show whether you forgot to supply a pot with JBL FloraPond . The growth starts later, is slower and less vigorous!
Planting baskets are useful
Rampantly growing species, such as the mare's tail and a few water lily species, really belong in a planting basket, so that their growth can be curbed.
Water lilies especially appreciate it when you briefly remove the plant basket and add some root fertiliser when they first start to grow JBL FloraPond .
Wild water - calm water
Water lilies don’t like strong currents or splashing water. Drops of water are like magnifying lenses burning on their blossoms.
Winter preparation: pruning plants
Some plant species, like the purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) need to be cut back in late autumn. Never break plant parts off, cut them! A lot of long grass-like plants and bulrushes need to be cut down to a hand’s breadth above the water surface after the wilting phase in autumn, when they begin to bend. A hedge trimmer can be useful with a lot of grasses. Remember to remove all the plant trimmings from the water!
Curbing spread
Containment of plants: Even if we look forward to seeing the plants spread at the beginning, containing their spread may soon become a problem! The best advice is to plant in planting baskets.
Don’t forget to feed your plants!
Just like indoor or aquarium plants, pond plants require nutrients and trace elements for healthy and vigorous growth, With the help of fertiliser balls ( JBL FloraPond ), you press into the pond plants‘ root area (best directly after purchase) you supply all root forming marsh and aquatic plant species with nutrients, minerals and trace elements. Your pond plants receive the other nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon from the water or, as with marsh plants, from the air.
Expert tip
Remove as many dying plant leaves as possible! As it decays, dead organic matter (often from plant leaves) releases the nutrients absorbed during their lifetime, and thus promotes algae growth! Regular pruning of the marsh plants in autumn before the garden pond’s dormancy is also an important step towards reducing nutrients. But leave about 10 % of the marsh plants’ stems above the water surface. They provide somewhere to hibernate for a diversity of insects. In addition the stems stand in the water like snorkels and ensure the aeration of the water while the surface is frozen.
